welders advice

Ive been looking at getting a new welder  i already have a mig welder had it for well  over 10 years  could do with a new torch and lead ....but its served me well and easy paid for itself  its ok for tacking and patching panels  but  not exactly  the best for more heavy duty jobs   last weekend i got  the task of welding up a couple of bmw diffs wich i used a mates arc welder  as i needed to lay down some heavier duty welds  to knit them all together .... i hadnt used an arc welder to much before just had a quick freshen up  practice and really came out well  ... so did both diffs  and packed up and came away thinking i need to get me one of those ..... but heres the thing i would like abit of an allround  machine as i would like to have a go at tig welding so a combo machine is where im heading i kind of figure stuff that i want to make is exhaust/parts like turbo elbows  stainless steel ...... brackets like the master cylinder  bracket etc so i was looking at possibly a dc inverter  tig/arc welder ...... i would like a ac/dc one for welding aliminium but base models  start at high  prices of  700quid  wich is way out of my budget  for a hobby/diy'er  from what ive read obviously it doesnt have to be zillion amps as duty cycle is just as important aswell  no point having a 200amp machine if you can only use it for five minutes lol so ive been  looking and saw this ....SIP 05266 Weldmate P178HF TIG / ARC Inverter Welder any thoughts and experiances  welcome 
I also read a few threads regarding dc welding aliminium .

ive done plenty of arc welding with an old oxford oil cooled welder leighton but cant help you on the newer ones, as Id also like to get a tig.

They reckon most of the old machines are the best and made to last but just back breaking heavy to move lol ....

yeah they weigh a tonne  

I have a mig and tig. I paid grand for my tig and its dc only. Pay penuts and all that. That reminds me i beed argon lol but my advice is buy what u cann afford

Ok so on an average what kind of stuff do you weld and amperage wise ?

Depends of the job and material. 200 is all u need tho. Unless u go industrail

went to get argon yesterday and the bloke said these rental on it now, £3 a month for 10 litres!!! Used pay £28 for refill plus vat no rent nothing, bloody rip off.

Theres a fella on ebay that does it per bottle with a one off fee for the bottle so intially you stump up the cash but then get the money back on the second refill think its about 70quid for a full bottle of pure argon sure its a bigish bottle .

The welder i was looking at was 160 amps and  duty cycle @160 amps 60%

ive got the SIP 05266 Weldmate P178HF TIG / ARC Inverter myself which for a hobbyist its quite good but for anything smaller than 1.0mm sheet your stuffed as the amps wont go low enough for anything thinner.
if you are going to use it a lot you are better off getting one on peddle and not button for obvious reasons but they are quite a bit more to buy.
just paid £250 for the peddle for my miller dynasty.
for the best results either argon 2% or 5% if preferable with a purge if your welding tube.

Yeah i noticed peddle was the better way to go i just couldnt afford the next step up welder ... will give it a go next year when i stump up the money for some gas and filler rods as ive always fancied making an exhaust with tig ...

the good thig about peddle is you can control the amount of amps you using on what you are working on as full amps isnt reached untill you foott is flat.
i normally use more amps than i need and controll it via the peddle plus if the unit has the option setting it to pulse is really usefull when welding stainless.
with fillar rods the best ones are 316 1.6mm which are pretty standard.
what size tungstens were you thinking of using?

have a look at r tech welders have a few people i know purchase these and very pleased with them
and a good warranty in uk too.

The R-Tech TIG160PDC is quite a nice bit of kit which includes preand post flow , slope in and out plus pulse but i dont think it has facility for a peddle which are normally extra at 180 quid ish.
for a decent set your probably looking at the best part of £700 but at the end of the day do you really need all those functions if you just knocking stuff up every now and then in your garage.

I did look at the r tech when i was buying .... the way i looked at it was as much as i wanted a ac dc tig but i couldnt justify spending a fortune for something i may not even get on with ive had a go with tig ... but the machine was all set up at the workshop and he asked if i wanted to have a go at a couple of joints wich it come out ok ... but for me it will only be a semi hobby machine as my mig is mostly what i use majority of the time for welding up cars .... i gotta say i did use the arc side of the machine to do aload of steel work rsj's at a job and i was very impressed it handled it very well and i was welding for most of the day ...